A Strategic Transportation System Linking Military Facilities to Deployment Seaports

The Gulf Coast Strategic Highway System is being pursued to meet the military transportation needs of U.S. Army and National Guard facilities in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi -- facilities which must deploy and return combat equipment through Gulf Coast seaports. It will also help meet the need to move a growing amount of freight from one region to another.

The Strategic Highway System would also provide relief routes for Interstate Highway traffic at points outside of air quality non-attainment areas and away from coastal tropical storm impacts. This upgraded highway infrastructure will provide economic development opportunities in portions of these states that have not kept up with the economic growth which has occurred elsewhere – and do it in an environmentally acceptable way. The graphic above illustrates the routes in the Gulf Coast Strategic Highway System using existing highway corridors.

The Texas Department of Transportation has completed an extensive feasibility study on those portions of the route in Texas.